op-por-tu-ni-ty noun a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something
An old adage says, if opportunity knocks, open the door. And an old joke says, if opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
The CNS Dean’s Opportunity Fund opens and builds doors. When students, faculty, or community members want to be involved in an activity or event that will lead to innovation, learning, and communication, but there is no funding available to support their involvement, they can turn to the Dean’s Opportunity Fund.
Supported solely by donations, the Dean’s Opportunity Fund helps students and faculty attend conferences and competitions, brings middle and high school students to campus for hands-on learning in the sciences, helps CNS students with the costs of education, and more.
For example, in the past year, the Dean’s Opportunity Fund has:
- Contributed to the Junior Fellows Program, an invaluable opportunity for seniors majoring in the life sciences to enhance their research experience through mentoring and professional development activities that culminate in a campus-wide research symposium showcasing undergraduate research excellence.
- Helped students attend the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, a prestigious three-day annual event for landscape industry students from across the country to demonstrate their skills in real-world competitions and network at a Career Fair attended by leading landscape companies looking for new recruits. UMass Arboriculture students have won the National Collegiate Landscape Competition four years in a row.
- Enabled faculty to attend the Gordon Research Conference, an exciting networking opportunity for early-career scientists to meet face-to-face with leaders in the scientific community and discuss research, and the Black Doctoral Network Conference, which brings together both world-renowned and emergent scholars and professionals for intellectual exchange, connections, and collaborations.
- Helped to host a workshop preparing coaches and team members for the 2017 Massachusetts Envirothon, a leading natural resource education program for high school students, emphasizing hands-on, team-oriented problem solving and community involvement that prepares young people for environmental careers and active citizenship.
- Contributed more than $8,000 to undergraduate scholarships.
“Be an opener of doors,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson once urged. Support the CNS Dean’s Opportunity Fund.
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The Center for Research on Families, Environmental Conservation, Geosciences, and Psychological & Brain Sciences are participating in UMassGives, too. Check out their pages!
